Idioms and Irony

Idiom Idiom (n) – 1. any commonly used word or expression that has a figurative meaning beyond the literal meaning For example, some common idioms that figuratively refer to death are…

Kicked the Bucket!

Pushing up Daisies!

Bite the Dust!

Idioms that Mean “It’s Easy” a piece of cake easy as pie it was a breeze can do it with my eyes closed it’s not rocket science child’s play

Idioms from Baseball batting a thousand swing for the fences striking out in the ballpark of… big leagues / bush leagues covering your bases out of left field getting to first base 100% perfect give maximum effort failing approximately… pro! / amateur! ready for anything completely unexpected earning a kiss

Some Idioms People Still Use from Hamlet’s Soliloquy there’s the rub to shuffle off this mortal coil what dreams may come slings and arrows there’s the problem to die the afterlife to endure the problems of life

Some Idioms from Shakespeare to your heart’s content haven’t slept a wink in a pickle in my mind’s eye it’s high time… rhyme nor reason send him packing laying it on thick the long and short of it into thin air the green-eyed monster a foregone conclusion well read forever and a day good riddance

Idioms from Macbeth a sorry sight as pure as snow screw your courage to the sticking place at one fell swoop fair play / foul play an unwelcome aspect or feature untouched and innocent be steadfast suddenly, in a single action just and equal / dishonest and treacherous

What we expect to happen vs. What actually happens Irony What we expect to happen vs. What actually happens

Situational Irony When we expect one thing to happen, but something unexpected happens instead

Situational Irony Umm… shouldn’t a guy in a toothpaste advertisement… you know, have teeth? ←

Verbal Irony When somebody says one thing, but they mean something different

Verbal Irony Sure, she says she’s not ← alone… …but come on, she ← really means that she is alone

Dramatic Irony When the reader/audience knows something that the characters don’t know

Dramatic Irony He expects a pleasant ← distraction from life on a desert island… …but we know he’s ← going to be disappointed

Which Kind? Verbal Irony I want to compliment you on your work, Dobbs. Tell me when you do some. Verbal Irony

Dramatic Irony Which Kind? We’re lucky we found this piece of wood floating by.” Which Kind?

Situational Irony Which Kind?

Which Kind? Situational Irony In “The Most Dangerous Game,” Sanger Rainsford is a famous hunter, but now he is the one being hunted. Situational Irony

Which Kind? Dramatic Irony When Romeo finds what he believes to be Juliet’s dead body, he ends his own life, even though the audience knows that Juliet was just faking her death. Dramatic Irony

Which Kind? Verbal Irony In Animal Farm, after Snowball gets run off the farm, Napoleon says that even though he pretended to hate the windmill, he was really in favor of building it all along. Verbal Irony

Which Kind? Situational Irony When Tom Benecke, after rescuing his yellow paper, after narrowly surviving a ten minute foray on a narrow ledge, opens the door to go join his wife at the movies, the yellow paper flies out the window again. Situational Irony